#London2012 – Networks can’t handle Olympian volume of texts

Spectators at the men’s cycling road race on Sunday were asked to refrain from texting during the event unless it was urgent, as overloaded data networks caused problems for broadcasters.

The warning came as data from the GPS satellite navigation system couldn’t report back information on how far ahead the race leader was, leaving commentators – and television viewers at home – at a loss.

According to Reuters, spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the problem came from one particular network that was oversubscribed and that they are working on better sharing of the data between networks. BT, Vodafone and O2 have all reported no network issues.

The marathon and triathlon events will also take place on London’s roads, and certainly the IOC will want to ensure the networks are better managed by then.